9. Haken - The Mountain
Genre: Ear-friendly-mind-bending rock/metal
Sounds Like: Gentle Giant, Queen, Elbow, Dream Theater
When people think of progression in terms of rock & metal, its often said that we've already seen everything under the sun. How much stylistic deviation and off-the-wall dynamism can you actually put into a recording before it ceases being interesting on an accessible level, fated to become yet another Rock In Opposition album nobody will ever listen to?
If there's one band in 2013 that prove the validity of honest-to-God evolution in rock music, it would be the U.K.'s Haken. The Mountain marks their 3rd full length effort: the album cover looks almost like a custom Tarot card, the closet living metaphor for a human life as you'll ever find. And sonically, they've never been richer: lead singer Ross Jennings gives Freddie Mercury a run for his money in sheer versatility, but between all the great guitar work, piano playing, keyboards, drums and bass...well, it's a damn fine ensemble with enough jazzy, propulsive interplay and ideas to keep even the most ADD among us entertained for an hour or more.
The songs here cross pollinate some really intriguing ideas about the human condition: for example, lead single 'Atlas Stone' contemplates perseverance as we struggle to succeed against adversity, 'Cockroach King' gives us a jazzy, polyphonic insight into celebrity idealization with lots of awesome counterpoint vox, and even when things slow down with 'Because It's There', your drawn into something resembling a Gregorian ballad. And that's not even detailing the first half of the album completely: the journey up the mountain is a bizarre yet beautiful one in equal measure.
This is an album about being alive, the struggles & joys that arise from being such complicated, self-aware creatures in an indifferent world that defies our understanding. Seeking truth and certainty but constantly being pulled astray by pareidolic falsehoods throughout our respective journeys. Stuff like this is a big pill to swallow no matter what style of music you call your home, but this band pulls it off with flying colors, hooks and plenty of musicianship. Get it if you know what's good for you!